Crown closure removing and collecting device



Dec. 27, 1-955 ROBERT 2,728,250

CROWN CLOSURE REMOVING AND COLLECTING DEVICE FJ' led Dec. 13, 1954 IIL15 82 4- [16a f w 14 22 I3 //wewro/e flscrok. 4. Koala-er- United StatesPatent" (3 CRGWN CLQSURETR-EMQVING AND'EOLLEGTING DEWCE Hector 12;.Robert, Birtie, Manitoba, Canada Application December: 13,v 1954;SeriaLNo; 474,873.

Claims. (CL. 819-31).

The present invention relates to.a device for removing.

crowncl'osures andicollecting. the removed" closures;

Thetremoval of crown closures with conventional'.. bot: tl'e-openers isusually, exceptin the case where the opener is mount'edon a cooler orthe like havinga closureereceiving receptacle disposed below the opener,a two-stepprocess. The first and essential step is of course the removalof the closure, while the second step. isthe disposal of the closure ina trash can, waste-paper basket, or the like. The first step can betaken with pleasure because it releases the contents of the bottle, butthe second. step is" generally regarded as: a chore. which is usuallyreluctantly; per.- formed, and is often actually neglected with theresult that a littered appearance is imparted to any room where bottleddrinks are-being dispensed in quantity.

My invention is aimed at eliminating the chore associated with thissecond step by providing a device which is both a portable closureremover and a means for collecting and retaining the removed closures;the removed closures being caught and held in a receptacle which iscapable of holding a large number of closures and therefore requiresonly occasional emptying.

The invention may be generally defined as a device for removing crownclosures and collecting the removed closures comprising a receptaclehaving an open end for the reception of removed closures, a bar-likeelement rigidly mounted within said receptacle and extendinglongitudinally thereof, said element extending outwardly through saidopening and terminating in a closure lifting hook, and an elongatedpermanent magnet mounted adjacent one side of said bar-like element forsliding movement longitudinally thereof, said magnet being shorter thansaid element and carrying at its outer end a leverage fulcrum shaped tocooperate with said closure lifting hook in the removal of the closurefrom a capped bottle. The magnet is slidable, under the influence ofgravity, from a position in which said leverage fulcrum cooperates withsaid closure lifting hook to a position in which said leverage fulcrumis wholly retracted within said receptacle. A stop member is swingablymounted within said receptacle to prevent the escape from the receptacleof removed closures carried thereinto by said magnet.

In the appended drawings which illustrate one embodiment of theinvention:

Figure 1 is a perspective view,

Figure 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 22 in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 3--3 in Figure 1.

Considering the drawings in more detail, reference numeral indicates areceptacle having an open end 11 and a base 12, the base being removablymounted on the receptacle by means of screw-threading 13. A bar-likeelement 14 is rigidly mounted within receptacle 10 and extendslongitudinally thereof. Element 14 extends outwardly through opening 11and terminates in a closure lifting hook 15 of a type known per se. Anelongated permanent 2,728,250 Patented. Dec.. 2.7, 1955 'ice magnet.16." is mounted" adjacent one side. of the. bar-like element 14,,and isslidable. longitudinally thereofl The magnetii's' off anelongated.U.-shapedjformation,, and. the elongated arms otithea U have.heenlahelled. 16a and. 16b in. the di awi'ngs. The. flee; end'sof the.arms. 16a. and 16Zi'are provided with convexly curvedjraisedportions.17a. and 17 b respectively which. when. they magnet 16 has.been caused to slide to its outermostiposition.(;as.shownin:.thedrawings. in fulllines),',. cooperate. with. the.lifting. hook. 15. in, the removal of. a closure ftom. a capped bottle,the curved raised" portions I721 and? 17.12; actingas. a. leverage.fulcrum.

The permanent'magnetis slidahly mounted by means of afixedrod"1'8wliichrunsparalfel 'to,.and-'.'is slightly spaced; apartfrom; the bar-like element 14; Rod. 18.; passes. through a bore 19 inthe.base.of.the U, ofthe magnet 16, and also passes throughanalignedboreiha welimember 21! which extends. transversely, ofthemagnet hetweenthe arms" 16a and 165 thereof; The. limits. ofj sliding,travel.

of magnet Ioare. shown. in Figure. 2;. The. mag-net. may

by tilting the whole device,,he causedLto. slide,,unden the;

influence of. gravity,.t0 the position shown infull5linesin oppositelytilting the whole device. the. magnet, 16Jmay. be. caused to slide tothe. position indicatedlin. broken. lines. in Figure. 2,,in which thebase ofjthe' mag-net bears. against.v

a stopZl provid'edat' the inner end -of element 14, and the surfaces 17aand 17b which form the leverage fulcrum are wholly retracted within thereceptacle 10.

The bar-like element 14 should either be formed from a non-magneticmaterial or clad with a non-magnetic material at least on the sidethereof adjacent the magnet 16. In the illustrated embodiment it hasbeen assumed that the element 16 is formed of a ferrous (magnetic)material. Therefore a strip 22 of non-magnetic material has been appliedto the side of element 14 which lies adjacent magnet 16, so' that themagnetic nature of the element 14 will not interfere with the desiredsliding of the magnet.

From the description of the device thus far provided it is believed thatthose familiar with the art will appreciate that a crown closure, suchas the one illustrated at 23 in Figure 3, may be removed from a bottleby first tilting the device so that the magnet 16 slides to theoutermost position and then, after catching the crimped lower edge ofthe closure with the lifting hook l5, pressing downwardly on thereceptacle. This prying action, wherein surfaces 17a and 17b act as aleverage fulcrum, removes the closure with ease. The removed closure isheld upon the surfaces 17a and 17b by magnetic attraction, and thewhole, device is then tilted to a generally upright position, causingthe magnet 16 to slide downwardly into the receptacle 10, the magnetcarrying the removed closure with it.

It will be appreciated that some means must be provided to prevent theremoved closure (or closures) held in the receptacle from escapingthrough the opening Has the device is tilted preparatory to the removalof a further closure. I found that this problem could be effectivelysolved by pivotally mounting a swingably retractable weighted stopmember 24 just in advance of the outer end of rod 18. The means forpivotally mounting stop member 24 is shown at 25. It is believed thatthe functioning of the stop arm will be clear. When the device is tilteddownwardly preparatory to removing a closure the stop member will swingdownwardly to meet the opposite wall of the receptacle, thus preventingremoved closures held within the receptacle from escaping through mouth11. When the device is tilted upwardly to slide the magnet and theremoved closure carried thereby into the receptacle, stop member 24 willswing back into general parallelism v .3 r v with the rod 18 and thusnotinterfere with the delivery of the closure into the receptacle. Stopmember 24 is preferably U-shaped in cross-section so that it can lieflushly against rod. 18 when in its inoperative position; and member 24' must, of course, be narrower than the distance between the arms 16aand 16b ofmagnet 16 since it must be capable of swinging through saidarms as it is moved between its operative and inoperative positions.

When it becomes necessary to empty 2. load of closures accumulated inthe receptacle 10, this may be done either by removing thescrew-threaded base 12 or by inverting the device while holding stopmember 24 in its inoperative position by inserting a finger throughopening 11.

The receptacle could, of course, be quite differently shaped from thestrictly utilitarian shape illustrated in the drawings. in which case itmight be used as an advertising medium,

or it might be made more attractive by forming the recep" tacle as afigurine.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A device for removing crown closures and collecting the removedclosures comprising a receptacle having an open end for the reception ofremoved closures, a bar-like element rigidly mounted within saidreceptacle and extending longitudinally thereof, said element extendingoutwardly through said opening and terminating in a closure It might forexample be shaped like a bottle,

lifting book, an elongated permanent magnet mounted adjacent one side ofsaid bar-like element for sliding movement longitudinally thereof, saidmagnet being shorter thansaid element and carrying at its outer end aleverage fulcrum shaped to cooperate with said closure lifting hook inthe removal of the closure from a capped bottle, said magnet beingslidable, under the influence of gravity, from a position in which saidleverage fulcrum cooperates with said closure lifting hook to a positionin which said leverage fulcrum is wholly retracted within saidreceptacle, and a stop member swingably mounted within said receptacleto prevent the escape from the receptacle of removed closures carriedthereinto by said magnet.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, in which said magnet is slidablymounted on a fixed rod which runs parallel to, and is slightly spacedapart from, said bar-like element.

3. A device as defined in claim 2, in which said bar-like element isformed of non-magnetic material.

4. A device as defined in claim 2, in which said bar-like element isclad with a non-magnetic material at least on the side thereof adjacentsaid magnet.

5. A device as defined in claim 2, in which said magnet is of elongatedU-shaped formation, and in which said stop member is pivotally mountedon said bar-like element just beyond the outer end of said rod, saidstop member being narrower than the distance between the arms of the U-shaped magnet, and the position of pivotal mounting of said 'stop memberon said element being arranged to permit said stop member to swingbetween the arms of said magnet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,653,939 Adams ct al Dec. 27, 1927 2,564,536 Lepkowski Aug. 14, 1951FOREIGN PATENTS 699,533 Great Britain Nov. 11, 1953

